Scholastic has announced that its animated series CLIFFORD THE BIG RED DOG has been awarded the Humanitas Prize for 2001 in the Children's Animation Category. The award was presented to Scholastic for the episode, A NEW FRIEND. “We're delighted that the Humanitas jurors have chosen CLIFFORD to receive this wonderful award," said Deborah Forte, executive producer of CLIFFORD THE BIG RED DOG, and an executive vice president of Scholastic Inc. "We have worked hard to tell stories in CLIFFORD that are about diversity and community.

The second annual PlanetOut.com Short Movie Awards has awarded NUMB the First Prize in the Animation category. Directed by Dino Alberto and Dave Hughes, this eerily animated short takes you to a land of lost souls with a secret. The film can be viewed at PlanetOut.com, along with all the other winners. Taking home the audience prize for animation was PIKI AND POKO: THE ADVENTURE BEGINS! By Mark Ewert and David Cutler. This highly stylized digital animation follows two Japanese schoolgirls who have a very special bond. PIKI & POKO is syndicated around the Internet by Mondo Media.

The five nominees for the coveted Cartoon d'Or Prize have been announced. Florence Miailhe's AU PREMIER DIMANCHE D'AOÛT (France); Thomas Stellmach's CHICKEN KIEV (Germany); Michael Dudok de Wit's Oscar winning film, FATHER AND DAUGHTER (Netherlands/U.K.); Trylle Vilstrup's LOVEBIRDS; and Andreas Hykade's RING OF FIRE (Germany). The winner will be announced during the Cartoon Forum's closing event on September 22.

At the 22nd Banff Rockie Awards (June 10-15, 2001), YOHO AHOY: BUZZ WITH JONES, produced by The Consortium of Gentlemen for the BBC, UK, won the Animation Program Award. Every year, as a celebration of excellence, Canada’s Banff Television Festival administers the Banff Rockie Awards competition for the world’s best television programs and Webcasts. The competition recognizes excellence across 14 categories, including animation, with cash prizes totaling more than $100,000. For a complete list of the winners visit: www.banff2001.com.

POWERPUFF GIRLS captured three awards, including overall License of the Year, at the International Licensing Industry Merchandisers’ Association (LIMA) Annual Awards Gala, recognizing the brightest in the multi-billion dollar worldwide licensing industry in 2000. POWERPUFF GIRLS also captured two awards in the Entertainment/Character category, including License of the Year and Licensee of the Year/Soft Goods, for POWERPUFF GIRLS Apparel. Kellogg’s is marketing a POWERPUFF GIRLS breakfast cereal and Delta Airlines has the characters decorating the tailfins of its planes.

The Board of Governors of the Academy of Motion Picture Arts and Sciences has approved the final rules for the new Best Animated Feature Film award. According to an Academy Board press release, the new category will be governed as follows:

Presented by the National Cartoonists Society, the 55th Annual Reuben Awards have taken place in Boca Raton, Florida, the home of the International Museum of Cartoon Art. The three-day event climaxed on May 26, 2001 with the presentation of the Reuben Award to the outstanding cartoonist of the year. Jack Davis, best known for advertising illustration and work in MAD Magazine, is the winner of the 55th Annual Reuben Award, the highest honor in the cartooning profession. The Society also presented the Gold Key/Hall of Fame Award to Arnold Roth for fifty years of cartooning excellence.

The Oscar winner for best short animated film, FATHER AND DAUGHTER, has won the coveted grand prize at the International Festival of Animated Film at Annecy. In an elaborate and festive closing ceremony held on Saturday, June 9, 2001, the awards were handed out by the festival’s artistic director, Serge Bromberg.



The Short and Feature Fiction Films jury, made up of Ron Diamond, USA, Florence Miailhe, France, John
Dilworth, USA, Françoise Reymond, France and Oscar Grillo, Argentina has awarded:

"Annecy

PROTEST, created by S.D. Katz, won the 2001 Charles Samu Award, an animation award that recognizes quality work made on substantive issues. Charles Samu, who was a key player in creating the Zagreb Animation Festival in the ‘70s, was a builder of cultural bridges for friendship and understanding through the universal language of animation. The Leo Dratfield Endowment at International Film Seminars, in association with ASIFA-EAST, has honored his memory each year following his death in 1988.

In association with the International Critic's Week at the Cannes Film Festival, monsieurcinema.com awarded the first award for Best Web Film at Cannes 2001. The seven films in competition were: CUB by Steve Whitehouse, Canada; GOTCHAAA! by Eric Gosselet and Fabien Brandily, France; IN A GROVE by Hiroyuki Watanabe, Japan; LE SECRET MINCEUR by Stéphane Ricard, France; MARCELLE (episode “Les Plaisirs De La Route”) by Guillaume Joire, France; THE BIRTH OF STAINBOY by Tim Burton, USA; and THE SVUOTCHER by Flavio Della Rocca and Mattia Pasquini, Italy.

The 28th Annual Daytime Emmy Awards were presented on May 18, 2001 by the National Academy of Television Arts and Sciences. Emmy Awards are presented to daytime television programs that are broadcast nationally between the hours of 2 a.m. and 6 p.m.

The 34th annual WorldFest, The Houston International Film Festival, concluded on April 28, 2001. This year, the festival received more than 4,300 total entries, with all animation categories receiving over 30 entries each. Ray Pointer, president of Inkwell Images, Inc., received the Gold Award in the entertainment category for his documentary, MAX FLEISCHER'S FAMOUS OUT OF THE INKWELL. This is Pointer's third win in a row, having won the Gold, Silver and Bronze awards for producing the successful KEN SOUTHWORTH ANIMATION INSTRUCTION series.

Cartoon Network Latin America won a silver and bronze award in the animation category at the 2001 Festival Iberoamericano de Agencias de Publicidad (FIAP). Selected from more than 5,000 entries from Latin America, Spain and Portugal, this year's FIAP winners were announced on May 11, 2001 at the awards ceremony in Buenos Aires, Argentina. AQUAMAN, a promotional spot for Votatoon, received the silver award, and FRED, a spot promoting the Cartoon Network Websites CartoonNetworkLA.com, CartoonNetwork.com.br and CartoonNetwork.com.mx, earned the bronze.

The first Tough Eye Animated Film Festival, held in Turku, Finland, May 15 - 20, 2001, has announced its winners. The international jury for the Timeless Competition was composed of: Mette Peters, Netherlands; Jayne Pilling, UK; Edwin Carels, Belgium; and Stanislav Ulver, Czech Republic. This year's co-winners for the Grand Prize are: HEN, HIS WIFE, Igor Kovalyov, Russia 1990, and IN ABSENTIA, Quay Brothers, UK, 2000. Both films were awarded a FIM 15.000,00 cash prize.

The 2001 Leo Awards, a celebration of excellence in film and television held May 11-12, 2001 in Vancouver, Canada, has announced its winners. AAAGH! IT'S THE MR. HELL SHOW, directed by Christopher Brough and Jay Falconer, took home the Best Animation Series Award. Produced for the BBC by London, U.K.’s Peafur Productions, AAAGH! IT'S THE MR. HELL SHOW recently won the Best Comedy Series Award at the Houston World Fest 2001. GREY AREAS - EPISODE 3 by Steve Sacks won the Leo Award for Best Direction/Storyboarding Of An Animation Program.

The 2001 Harvey Awards were presented April 27, 2001 in Pittsburgh Pennsylvania. Named for the late comic genius Harvey Kurtzman, the Harveys are one of the comics industry's oldest and most prestigious awards. They are the only awards in comics both nominated and selected by the vote of the full body of creative comics professionals. Three Harvey Awards were bestowed upon Chris Ware, including Best Series and Best Graphic Album of Previously Published Work for ACME NOVELTY LIBRARY, and the Special Award for Excellence in Presentation for Pantheon's Acme collection, JIMMY CORRIGAN.

The 2001 Sprockets Toronto International Film Festival for Children, held April 20-29, 2001 in Toronto, Canada, has announced its winners. Canada’s MAURICE SENDAK’S LITTLE BEAR: THE LITTLE BEAR MOVIE took home the Toronto Sun Animation Award, an audience award given to the favorite animated feature or short film. Directed by Raymond Jafelice, MAURICE SENDAK'S LITTLE BEAR: THE LITTLE BEAR MOVIE follows Little Bear as he meets a new friend named Cub, who has become separated from his parents.

Animator Patricia Beckmann was voted one of the top 25 Women of the Web by the San Francisco Women on the Web chapter (www.sfwow.org), a San Francisco-based grassroots, non-profit organization providing networking and professional development opportunities for Bay Area women in the Internet, hi-tech and new media industries. This year's Women of the Web awards recognize the achievements of women who have made a significant contribution to the advancement of technology and to the advancement of women in technology-related fields.

Episodes of BOB AND MARGARET and GARY & MIKE have been nominated for the prestigious Rose D’Or, an annual international television festival and competition held in Montreux, Switzerland, open to more than 2000 producers and broadcasters from around the world. This year’s festival will be held April 26 – May 1, 2001.

In the competition at Cartoons on the Bay, Folimage’s imaginative SPUD AND THE VEGETABLE GARDEN took home three prizes. The 5th Cartoons On The Bay International Festival of Television Animation was held in Positano (Amalfi Coast), Italy from April 5 - 9. Cartoons on the Bay is the only festival in the world dedicated to television animation. The festival is an international event with awards, workshops, lectures and events centering on the ever-changing world of television animation.